Sewing machine



l. FOSSA.

SEWING MACHINE- APPLICATION FILED mm. 23. ms.

Patented Feb. 14, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

arosnrn mann NEW YomnN. Y., sssrenon T0 Unrrnu .snon MAGHINJ'JRY con,-

. rom'rron, or PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A ooarorwrxon on NEW JERSEY.

SEWING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application men March as, 1918. Serial No. 224,264.

I '0 wllwhom it may concem Be it known that I, JosErI-I Fossa, acitizenof the United States, residing at New York, in the county of NewYork and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Sewing Machines; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

The invention relates to overseam sewing machines in which the thread isheld at the beginning of the sewing in position to be covered by thestitches of the oversearn.

Machines have heretofore been provided with thread severing and holdingdevices for severing the thread at the completion of the sewingoperation and for holdingthe end of the thread at the beginning of thenext sewing operation in such position that the waste end extending fromthe initial stitch is cov ered by the oversea-m stitches, and it hasalso been proposed to provide, a thread guiding finger for holding andguiding the waste end and maintaining it in proper position to becovered after it has been released by the thread holder. The object ofthe present in" vention is to improve the construction and mode ofoperation of such a thread guiding finger, whereby its action isrendered more certain and uniform. To this end, the finger is so mountedthat its position with relation to the needle, or needles, remainsunchanged during its guiding action on the thread. This enables thefinger to maintain the waste end of the thread in the best position tobe covered by the overseam stitches. In embodying the invention in abuttonhole sewing machine, provided with sewing mechanism which isrotated in sewing about the end or ends of the buttonholes, the guidingfinger is preferably mounted to move with the sewing mechanism. \Vhen somounted. the finger may be conveniently lowered to engage and guide thethread end. and raised, after the covering of the thread end has beencompleted, by a stationary cam over which the finger carrier travels.

The invention will be readily understood from an inspection of theaccompanying drawings, in which the preferred form at the invention isillustrated, applied to the buttonhole sewing machine disclosed in thepatents to Hill, No. 1,063,880, "June 3, 1913, and No. 1,094,896, A ril28, 1914.

In the drawings, *igure lfis a side elevation of so much of thebuttonhole sewing machine of the above patents as is necessary toillustrate the application of the )resent improvements thereto; Figs.2', 3 an lare front elevations looking toward the right in Fig. 1,showing the parts in difl'erent positions' Fig. 5 is a horizontalSectional view'on the line 5, Fig. 2; Fi 6 is a similar view on line 6,Fig. 3; is a similar view on line 7, Fig. 4:; and ig. 8 is a verticalsectional view through the finger carrier slide and its sup-port.

The machine shown in the drawings is provided with the traveling workclamp 2, the buttonhole cutter 1, the thread holder and cutter 6, thevertically reciprocating upper needle 8 mounted in the rotary head 10,and the under needle and looper,which are not shown. At the end of thesewing, the thread holder and cutter is operated to sever the upperneedle thread and hold its end until the sewing of the next buttonho'lebegins, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2; At the beginning of the sewing,the first stitch is taken at the end of the buttonhole, and the threadholder is so located at the rear of the sewing point that the waste endof thread leading from the holder to the first needle hole is covered bythe overseam, as fully explained in Patent No. 1,094,896. After thefirst few stitches have been taken, the thread end is released orwithdrawn from the thread holder- 1 and thereafter it is guided andmaintained in proper relation to the needle paths by the thread guidingfinger of the present invention which moves with the stitch formingmechanism as it rotates during thc'sc'wing.

In the embodiment shown, the thread guiding finger 12 is secured in thelower end of a carrier slide 14- mounted within a vertical guide tube 16and forcedv downward toward the work by a spring 18. The guide tube issecured in a supporting plate 20, which is in turn secured to the lowerend of the rotary head 10 by the screws 22. The carrier slide is raisedand lowered at proper times by a stationary cam plate 24 arranged to beengaged by a finger 26 at the upper end of the slide which projectsthrough a slot 28 in the guide tube. l The position which the parts Wllloccupy at the beginning of the sewing is thesame as that indicated inFigs. 1, 2 and 5. At this time, the finger 26 rests on the high part ofthe cam pia te fifand the thread guiding finger 125's held iiii-tsraised position. During the sewing of the first few stitches, the stitchforming mechanism is rotated through a proximately a. quarter turn, andduring this inofiemeht the 'tllreadguiding finger is carried from theand 5 into position a'be've'theihread which leads from the thread holderto the seam. As the thread finger comes into this position, the finger'26 rides off the end of the cam plate and the spring 18 immediatelymoves the thread guiding finger down into engagement with the work, thefinger engaging the thread and pressing it against the upper surface ofthe work, as indicated in s. 3-:a'nd 6. At about this time, the threa dholder is operated to. release the waste en'd'ef thread, so that duringthe continued "sewing of the seam the thread is guided and held againstthe surface of the work between the needlefpaths by the thread guidinfinger,-the lower surface of which 18 notc lied for the assage of thethread. During the continued s'ewing of the first half of thebuttonhole, the sewing mechanism may continue to rotate, and during suchmovement the thread guiding finger moves with the sewing mechanism, sothat its position with relation to the needle paths is not disturbed.After the waste end of the thread has passed from under the threadguiding finger and has been completely cov ered by the'overseam, thefinger 26 is carried by the rotation of the sewing mechanism over thelower inclined end of the cam plate '24, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 7.As the rotation ofthe sewing machanism continues, the finger 26 rides uponto the high part of the cam plate, thus lifting the thread guidingfinger into its initial or inactive position, where it remains until thesewing of the next buttonhole.

While it is preferred to employ the arrangement of parts shown anddescribed in embodying the invention in the buttonhole sewin machine ofthe patents above referred to, this construction and arrangement is notessential to the broader features of the invention, but may be varied ormodified as found desirable or best suited to the (1011- struction ormode of operation of the ma chine in which it is to be embodied.

Having explained the nature and object of osition indicated inFigs. 2

the invention, and having specifically described one form of mechanismin which it is embodied, what is claimed is:-

1. A sewing machine, Having, in combination, overseam stitch forming"devices com prising a needle, a thread guiding finger for guiding thewaste end of the needle thread into position to be covered by theoverseam stitches, and means for maintaining said finer in fixedrelation to the needle path during its guiding action on the thread.

2. A sewing machine', having, in combination, overseam stitch formingmechanism comprising a rotary needle carrier and a needle, a threadgulding finger mounted to rotate with the needle carrier and arranged toengage and guide the waste end of-needle thread mto position to becovered by the overseam, and means for lowerin and raising the fingerduring the rotation of the stitch forming mechanism.

3. A sewing machine, having, in combination, shiftable overseam stitchforini'n devices, including a needle, means for 110 ding the end of theneedle thread in position to be covered by the overseam, and a threaduiding finger arranged to engage the thread )etween the holding meansand the sewing point and mounted for movement with the stitchformingmechanism to maintain it in fixed relation to the needle path.

4. A sewing machine, having, in combination, overseam stitch formingmechanism comprising a rotary needle carrier and a needle, a threadguiding finger mounted on the needle carrier, and a stationary cam forraising and lowering thethread guiding finger.

5. A sewing machine, having, in combination, rotary overseam stitchforming devices comprising a needle, and a thread guiding finger forguiding the waste end of the me dle thread into position to be coveredby the overseam stitches mounted to rotate with the stitch formingmechanism.

6. A sewing machine having, in combination, laterally movable overseamstitch-forming devices including a needle, 3. thread engaging device forpresenting the waste end of the needle thread in position to be coveredby the overseam stitches, and means for so mounting the thread engagingdevice that its position with relation to the needle path remainsunchanged during its entire guiding action on the thread.

JOSEPH FOSSA.

